¹Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there . Behold , the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by . Boaz said to him , “Come over here , friend , and sit down !” He came over , and sat down .

²Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city , and said, “Sit down here ,” and they sat down .

³He said to the near kinsman , “Naomi , who has come back out of the country of Moab , is selling the parcel of land , which was our brother Elimelech’s.

⁴I thought I should tell you , saying, ‘Buy it before those who sit here , and before the elders of my people .’ If you will redeem it , redeem it ; but if you will not redeem it , then tell me , that I may know . For there is no one to redeem it besides you ; and I am after you .”

He said, “I will redeem it .”

⁵Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi , you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess , the wife of the dead , to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance .”

⁶The near kinsman said, “I can ’t redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance . Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can ’t redeem it .”

⁷Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things : a man took off his sandal , and gave it to his neighbour ; and this was the way of formalizing transactions in Israel .

⁸So the near kinsman said to Boaz , “Buy it for yourself,” then he took off his sandal .

⁹Boaz said to the elders and to all the people , “You are witnesses today , that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion ’s and Mahlon ’s, from the hand of Naomi .

¹⁰Moreover , Ruth the Moabitess , the wife of Mahlon , I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance , that the name of the dead may not be cut off from amongst his brothers and from the gate of his place . You are witnesses today .”

¹¹All the people who were in the gate , and the elders , said , “We are witnesses . May the LORD make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah , which both built the house of Israel ; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem .

¹²Let your house be like the house of Perez , whom Tamar bore to Judah , of the offspring which the LORD will give you by this young woman .”[#4:12 or, seed]

¹³So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in to her , and the LORD enabled her to conceive , and she bore a son .

¹⁴The women said to Naomi , “Blessed be the LORD , who has not left you today without a near kinsman . Let his name be famous in Israel .

¹⁵He shall be to you a restorer of life and sustain you in your old age ; for your daughter-in-law , who loves you , who is better to you than seven sons , has given birth to him .”

¹⁶Naomi took the child , laid him in her bosom , and became nurse to him .

¹⁷The women , her neighbours , gave him a name , saying, “A son is born to Naomi ”. They named him Obed . He is the father of Jesse , the father of David .

¹⁸Now this is the history of the generations of Perez : Perez became the father of Hezron ,

¹⁹and Hezron became the father of Ram , and Ram became the father of Amminadab ,

²⁰and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon , and Nahshon became the father of Salmon ,

²¹and Salmon became the father of Boaz , and Boaz became the father of Obed ,

²²and Obed became the father of Jesse , and Jesse became the father of David .